Actions | Women's Rights

President Obama: Say "NO" to Abstinence-Only Programs

To: The President of the United States

Sponsored by: National Partnership for Women & Families

In order to make responsible and healthy decisions, young people need medically accurate, age-appropriate information about sex and sexuality.

Yet, over the past decade, the federal government has allocated more than $1.3 billion for ineffective, dangerous abstinence-only programs that provide students with incomplete, medically inaccurate information that focuses solely on abstinence and provides little or no information about contraception.

President Obama has said that he supports comprehensive sex education programs that promote abstinence and provide information on contraception.

As President Obama and Congress finalize the details of the fiscal year 2010 budget, urge them to stop funding abstinence-only programs and direct our scarce public health resources to evidence-based, comprehensive sex education programs that actually work.

Sign the Letter

Stop Ineffective Abstinence-only Programs

Dear President Obama,

Thank you for your outspoken support for comprehensive sex education. As you know, abstinence-only-until-marriage programs deny young people the critical information they need to make safe and responsible life decisions.

Recognizing that abstinence-only programs have been ineffective at best and dangerous at worst, I strongly urge you to eliminate funding for abstinence-only-until-marriage programs funded through Title V of the Social Security Act and the Community-Based Abstinence Education program in your 2010 budget.

In addition, I am asking you to include $50 million to fund comprehensive sex education to ensure that young people receive medically accurate, age-appropriate information about sex and sexuality.

Sincerely,

[Your name here]